A number of vanes are provided in stator assemblies within gas turbine engines in order to appropriately guide air flows through the engine. The stator vanes do not rotate but must be resiliently located to provide guiding with limited if any possibility of detachment of a vane creating damage to expensive casings and turbine blades within the engine. Normally, a number of vane elements are located between inner and outer mounting platforms to form segments that are then combined to provide a vane assembly. Generally the inner mounting platform is manufactured from cast aluminium, the vanes themselves are forged aluminium and the outer platform is a fibre reinforced material produced by compression moulding. The vanes are located within slots in the inner and outer mounting platforms.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating vanes 1 located within an outer mounting platform 4 and inner mounting platform 5. As can be seen each outer mounting platform 4 is incorporated in a casing 2 through a slot 3. Thus, the vanes 1 in platforms 4 and 5 constitute a vane segment.
The vanes 1 are secured in the platforms 4, 5 at mounting ends 6. These mounting ends 6 enter a slot in the platform 4, 5 within which the mounting end 6 of each vane 1 is potted and secured using an appropriate material. This material 8 acts to provide vibration damping in addition to location and presentation of vane 1 within its vane segment. A typical material to provide vibration damping is known as Silastic J.